Composition containing annealed steel-wool and rubber.



J. P. CRANE.

COMPOSITION CONTAINING ANNEALED STEEL WOOL AND RUBBER.

APPLIGATIONIILED MAR. 18, 1911.

1 1 g 'y yg Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

\ rm D srA'rEs rA-rnnr orsioa.

JAMES P. chairs, on cnroneo, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentedflct. if 1914.

\ Application filed Hatch 18; 1911. Serial No. 815,254.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, James P. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Compositions Containing Annealed Steel-Wool and Rubber, of

which the following is a full, clear, and ex-' act specification.

This invention relates to improvements in compositions consisting of vulcanized rubber and steel wool in which the characteristics, ferns and material, peculiar to steel wool fibersfare utilized to bind and reduce the lateral expansion of its wearing surface withoutdimpairing the resiliency of the rubher and the frictional resistance of these fibers as a means rendering such surfaces non-slipping and non-skidding, whereby a composition is produced which is especially adapted for use in the construction of automobile and bicycle tires, hoof pads, shoe heels and other articles, wherein a substan- ,.tial resiliency, reduction in the frictional v for rubbing and other purposes, and requirwear of the rubber and the non-slipping and non-skidding of their treads are essential for obtaining the best possible results.

Steel wool is a well recognized article of commerce, every fiber of which is threadlike and has an irregular and triangular shape, giving steel wool a peculiar quality ing for its production specially manufactured and prepared wire and expensive special machinery, tools and skilled labor, and is so different in the material of which it is composed, manner of its production, form and appearance to the eye and touch, and in its characteristics anduses for which it is adapted from lead wool or other fibers or turnings, that it is clearly distinguishable from and is not to be confused with same.

The animal woollike curled form or 'kinkiness of the fibers of steel wool is-produced by a process of tempering them concurrently with their cutting, and to such a hardness and brittleness that they break the composition to a slab or sheet-like form before vulcanizing it, as must be for the purposes of its uses. In other words, the pressure necessary for the thorough incorpoiration and desired distribution of the steel wool fibers throughout the rubber is such that they are not only broken in two, but into lengths so short that instead of wearing ofi' with the rubber they are discharged therefrom by the resistance of the opposing .friction to which they are subjected. Fur- @thermore, owing to the resiliency of these Qsteel fibers, very many of them unavoidably present a side wearing surface forming loops over the surface of the rubber, as it continues to wear away, which not only reduce the effectiveness of the steel fibers for pre- 1 venting slipping and skidding, but that the fibers are wasted through the breaking of off at the surface of the rubber, but quite frequently inwardly of the surface, and to this extent exposing the rubber to unprogtected wear.

E The object of this invention is to reduce ;the fibers of steel wool to a condition substantially reducing their tendency to break, ,and, thereby maintaining them of the de- E;sired length, in a composition composed of :rubber and steel wool, and yet retain steel @wool fibers in the condition necessary for their effective operation as a binder prevent- .ing an undue lateral expansion under pressure of a rubber and steel wool composition when used for the purposes before referred to.

Another and importantobject of my invention is to reduce the fibers of steel wool to a condition by which it is both practicable and possible to have the fibers disposed in a general longitudinal direction in the rubber, and thereby compel their end presentationv to an opposing frictional surface, best resisting the wearing away of the rubber, and insure the effectiveness of steel .wool

ding of a rubber surface, and retarding its wearing away when opposed to frictional surfaces, without reducing the effectiveness of steel WOOl fibers as a binder for resilient rubber, and an undue expansion thereof of force directed against it.

lVith these ends in View, my invention elty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts by which the said obects and certain other objects are hereinafter attained, all as fully described with these loops, and not only by their breakingfibers for preventing the slipping and skid-- finds embodiment in certain features of no,v

nnarra ance of a tempered steel wool therein; and,

Fig. 2 is a similar view of another slab of a compound of steel wool and rubber showing the appearance and arrangement of the steel wool fibers following the use of the invention of my present process.

In carrying out my invention, I subject a mass'of steel wool to any ordinary annealing )rocess, drawing the temper of the fibers until they are reduced to such a state of flexibility that when mixed with a mass of raw rubber composition, of dough-like consistency, and the mass is then repeatedly passed in the same direction between the rollers of a mixing-machine commonly and generally employed for mixing rubber with its fluxes and alloys the fibers will not become unduly broken, and will dispose themselves generally in a longitudinal direction of the resulting slab or sheet, and generally retain this arrangement throughout the vulcanizing process and subsequent use.

The degree to which the fibers are annealed may be such that when the mass of fibers is pulled by hand or combed to a sheet like form, they will'be disposed in a general longitudinal direction, and retain this gen eral direction when placed between sheets of raw or partly cured rubber, and throughout the vulcanization of the mass under pressure in molds for that purpose.

In practice the fibers are annealed to a degree providing for their general longitudinal disposition in the rubber and yet retain their lengths suii'icient to provide binding the rubber against lateral expansion, and that the frictional wear upon the fibers may be generally against their ends, and not substantially against their side faces until the rubber is so worn down that the com-pound has no further value for the purposes and uses to which it is applied.

Practice has demonstrated that when the fibers of steel wool are annealed, as above de scribed, they may be brought to assume and remain disposed in the rubber in a general longitudinal direction, successfully reducing the tendency to be punctured by nails and glass, when in the form of automobile and bicycle tires, or an injurious cutting of shoe heels, soles, hoof pads, etc.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A new compound of rubber and steel wool consisting of vulcanized rubber and annealed fibers of steel wool incorporated therewith throughout the mass.

2. A new compound of rubber and steel wool consisting of resilient vulcanized rub ber and annealed steel wool fibers incorporated therewith throughout the mass.

3. A new compound of rubber and steel wool consisting of resilient vulcanized rubber and annealed fibers of steel wool incorporated with and disposed in ageneral longitudinal direction throughout the mass.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and aflixed my seal, this 3rd day of March, A. D. 1911.

JAMES P. CRANE. Ens] Witnesses:

F. E. Bnoivr, JNo.- G. ELLIOTT. 

